Bomb Blasts Kill Dozens Across Afghanistan

A wave of bomb blasts have left dozens dead and scores injured across Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say at least 36 people were killed and more than 100 injured when three suicide bombers attacked Zaranj, the provincial capital of southwestern Nimroz Province.

The triple bombing was followed by another blast a few hours later in northern Kunduz Province, where a remote-controlled bomb, hidden in a motorcycle, detonated in a crowded market, killing at least 10 people.

Earlier, Nimroz Governor Abdul Karim Barawi said a suicide attacker detonated explosives in the center of the Zaranj, near a hospital.

Barawi said local police then opened fire on the other two bombers, accidentally setting off their explosives. He said the blasts went off near a busy market, packed by civilians buying food and supplies to end their daily Ramadan fast.

Barawi said three additional bombers planning to detonate themselves were shot dead by police, while three others were arrested.

The deputy chairman of the Nimroz Provincial Council, Muhammad Nader Baluch, speaking with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, condemned the attacks.

"Enemies of the Afghan people launched these attacks in the holy month of Ramadan using their agents. They killed several people who were fasting," he said. "We condemned such acts by the enemies of the region."

Meanwhile, Nimroz police commander General Muhammad Musa said he expected the death toll in Zaranj to increase.

He confirmed that at least three members of the Afghan security forces were among those killed.

"Eleven of our policemen were injured and three other have been killed," he said. "There are children and women among the injured."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but similar attacks have been blamed on Taliban insurgents who are fighting foreign forces and the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

The attack was one of the deadliest in Afghanistan this year and the worst in Nimroz since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Nimroz, a relatively peaceful province, has seen a spike in violence recently. On August 11, an Afghan policeman, believed to be a Taliban infiltrator, killed 11 of his fellow officers in the province's remote Dilaram district.